David Byrne is the curator for this year’s Meltdown Festival in London. The 2014 Meltdown was curated by James Lavelle while previous years have seen Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, David Bowie and Yoko Ono involved.

Meltdown 2015 takes place between August 17-28 and the line-up of cultural events taking place at the Southbank Centre will be announced in the months to come.

Following his time in Talking Heads, Byrne has enjoyed a successful solo career and worked with Brian Eno, St Vincent, Morcheeba, Fatboy Slim, Paul Simon, Arcade Fire and Anna Calvi as well as dabbling in photography, acting, and writing —most recently authoring his autobiographical explanation of music How Music Works.

Speaking about his involvement in Meltdown, Byrne said: “This is going to be exciting! I plan to invite performers I’ve seen – and I do get out – and others I’ve missed or have dreamed of seeing. It’s going to be a bit of fun puzzle-solving I imagine – seeing who’s interested, who is available and what venues at Southbank Centre are appropriate. I really hope to find things that take this beyond sit-down concerts as well – but of course I’m speaking way too early as I’m still working on my wish list. Hoping that I get to stay in the Room For London, on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof, for the whole time, but suspect that might be expecting too much.”

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